The Badlands

We left the cool and rainy weather of Minnesota and headed west to North Dakota and temperatures that reached the triple digits by mid afternoon.  We stopped first at Fort Lincoln State Park just west of Bismark which in the 1880’s was the site of General Custer’s 7th cavalry brigade.  General Custer and his cavalry co-existed with the Mandan Indians here along the Missouri River.  There were lots of historical buildings to tour and the modern day campsite overlooks the river so we were able to enjoy a beautiful 4th of July fireworks show along the river.

We biked all around the park, toured the historical buildings and enjoyed a 4th of July arts and crafts festival in the small town of Mandan before heading west to Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

The south unit of the park is located in the small town of Medora, ND which is a quaint little village of shops and restaurants that caters to the park crowd.  Since we were entering buffalo country, we figured it was fitting to try a bison burger at the Cowboy Café in town before heading into the park.

 

The buffalo roam free throughout the park and we saw plenty of them from this little baby to lots of lone bulls and herds everywhere.

There were also lots of wild horses and we were fortunate enough to come upon some ponies playing in the mud.

After a long hot day hiking in the park, we took the 36 mile scenic drive at dusk and were rewarded with beautiful vista views and lots of wildlife.

The following day we headed up to the north unit of the park and went on the four mile Caprock Coulee trail that went up to the top ridge of the park and again we were rewarded with gorgeous views.  Well worth the hike!

In honor of Teddy and his Rough Riders, the park has a herd of longhorn cattle near the north entrance to the park.

Today we are heading north into Canada!  Aye!